Being

By Rina

October 2010

Disclaimers

: No infringement is intended.

He left New Jersey on a Thursday and landed in
Honolulu on Friday, somehow having lost a day amidst the lights of Las Vegas and
the hours of hurtling through the darkened skies between the east coast, the
west coast, and the blank expanses of the ocean beyond it.

Jet-lag dragged at those around him, and he was glad
that years on the force had given him the ability to drop off where and when it
was needed because he needed to be alert here in this new place, this new life.
Baggage claim was easy, the rental car line less so, but soon he was out of the
airport, headed for the one-room apartment that would now be home.

A call that should have been quick but dragged on
cemented the afternoon’s plans, and he quickly showered and changed, putting
on a button-down shirt in defiance of the island’s relaxed atmosphere.

Lunch and an attempt at making the apartment look more
homey filled the remaining hours, and finally he was standing outside the
building, scanning the emerging crowd for the face he wanted to see – and
there she was, his reason for being here, his reason for being. Her cry
of happiness cut through the high-pitched conversation of the children around
her, and suddenly he had an armful of wiggling, kissing little girl.